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11th June 2022
11:00am BST

Now, this was a fairly small town in Norway, and the much more innocent days of the early 90s, and I am happy to say that as far as I know, nothing bad or even remotely dangerous ever happened to these children who were allowed to stay home alone for the afternoons.
But things have changed since then, and now you can actually end up getting yourself prosecuted for neglect should you leave your child unattended and certainly if you let them stay home alone.
According to the NSPCC, their helpline always receives an increase in calls between July and September with concerns from adults about kids being left unattended, and last year, three-quarters of the 453 calls they received were so serious, they were passed on to police or social services.
So what is the legal age kids can be left home alone?
Well, unfortunately, you will find that there isn't one. As in; the law doesn’t state a specific age when you can leave a child on their own, but beware, it is an offense to leave a child alone if it places them at risk.
“Use your judgment on how mature your child is before you decide to leave them alone, eg at home or in a car, this UK government website states.
“Parents can be prosecuted if they leave a child unsupervised ‘in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering or injury to health.”
In both the UK and Ireland, the law doesn't specify an age when you can start leaving your children unsupervised at home, but parents and carers can be fined or even sent to prison if they are judged to have placed a child at risk of harm by leaving them at home alone.
Here are some guidelines the NSPCC have issued that are a good place to start when trying to determine whether or not your child is ready to be left home alone:
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